Oil distillation apparatus



Nov. 17, 1931.

E. C. DYARMETT OIL DISTILLATION APPARATUS Original Filed Deo. 16, 1925 2511991,5 5heet l /ll//l Patented Nov. 17, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE EDWARD C. DYARMETT, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECTAND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, T0 THE FRACT'IONATOR COMPANY, OF KANSAS CITY,MISSOURI, A

CORPORATION OF MISSOURI OIL nisTiLLATToN .APPARATUS Original applicationfiled December 16, 1926, Serial No. 155,208. Divided and thisapplication led August The present invention relates to improvements inapparatus for oil distillation, and more particularly to apparatus forfraction# al distillation. y

An object of the invention is to providean apparatus for fractionaldistillation which is extremely simple andmayA be used' with a minimumamount of personal supervision I and attendance. i f

A further object of the invention is to insure the elimination ofentrained liquid from apors given off at various stages, and also tothoroughlysubject the oil in the still to heat in such a way that anyvapors given off will entrain a minimum amount, if any, of the liquid.

A further object is to insure continuous release of vapors from the bodyof liquid, to bring vapors of light fractions and the heavier liquidfractions into intimate contact, tc avoid deposition of carbon, bymoving the body of liquid longitudinally of the compartment, and at thesame time, progressively increasing the heat longitudinally of the stillcompartment in the direction of 'oil flow.4 In order to obtain the fulleffect of the increased heat, and to accomplish the other objects, theliquid is preferably moved in local cyclic circulations repeatedly overthe heated still surface, thereby producing vapors which pass upwardlythrough theheavier liquid fractions into intimate Contact therewith. Inother words, the liquid is moved not only longitudinally of the still,but in addition, has imparted thereto local cyclic circulationstransversely of the longitudinal line of flow and of the heated surface,whereby the liquid is repeatedly passed over the surface as it passesthrough the zones of increasing heat. Thelight fractions are thusvaporized, and the heavier liquid fractions mingle with the vapors asthey pass upwardly through the liquid, and also at the surface of theliquid body where the liquid is moving and thus comes into contact withthe vapors thereabove. Another object of the invention is to confine thestreams in the cyclic circulations as they pass over the heated surface,to relatively shallow depths, so that the heated surface has asubstantial ef- Serial No. 215,891.

fect on the oil travelling in the streams. There is shown in the presentapplication a practical form of apparatus in which the circulation isobtained by convection, or, in other words, Aby the effect of heat,means being provided within the container for forming or defining thestreams.

The oil is heated in a still apparatus which includes any suitableliquid containing means, such as a plurality of chambers arranged inassociation with a suitable heating means, such as a single furnace, theoil being adapted to pass from one compartment to another, and beingraised in each compartment to a predetermined temperature. i

The vapors are taken off from each compartment or chamber, and directedthrough a dephleginator in which the vapors and any entrained liquidfollow a tortuous course.. The path through the dephleginator isarranged so that it has upwardly and downwardly directed portionsadapted to vary periodically the velocity of the vapors passingtherethrough, the vapors and ,liquid passing more slowly or with lessvelocity in the upwardly directed portions than in the downwardlydirected portions. This is accomplished by providing a series ofalternate upwardly and downwardly directed battles arranged in pairswith narrower spaces forming the downwardly directed portions betweenthe members of each pair than the spaces forming the upwardly directedportions which are between the separate pairs. This arrangement producesa relatively high velocity or rapid travel in the downward movements ofthe vapors as compared to the travel in the upward passages between theseparate pairs of baffles. The rapid downward and slow upward movementscause any entrained liquid or unvaporized oil to be. thrown out of thevapors as they travel through the tortuous course, and when the Vvaporsleave the dephlegmator for the condenser, they contain no entrained oilor liquid of any kind.

fit-hin thestill container there is provided a suitable means, such asbailies arranged in such a position that the oil travels not only fromone compartment to the other, but also Cil lio

ffl

it has a movement or cyclic circulation in shallow streams at an angleto the longitudinal travel, and in which it circulates upwardly over aheated zone, and downwardly through that portion of the still lessexposed to heat. This circulation of the oil in its travel through eachcompartment prevents the generating of large quantities of steam at atime, should any water be carried into the still with the oil, and thesmall qualitities of steam generated will pass from the still withoutentraining substantial quantities of oil, if any at all.

It will be understood that the movement of the liquid in cyclic streamsas it Vadvances longitudinally repeatedly passes the liquid over theheated surface, the heat of which .increases longitudinally of thecontainer in the direction of oil flow, and thus the oil is subjected toZones of progressively increasing heat as it passes through thecompartment.

The above described features of the invention will be made clearer by adescription of the embodiment of the invention which disclosed in theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section through suitable form ofapparatus.

Figure 2 is a vertical section on the line 2 2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a vertical transverse section on the line 3-3 of Figure l,looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view on the line 4-4 of Figure l.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a preferred form of apparatusfor carrying out my improved method.

In this preferred embodiment, the distilling chambers or compartments46, 47 are formed within a casing 48 by means of a transverse partition49 having openings 49 therein through which the oil unvaporized by theheat in the compartment 46, may pass to the compartment 47.

The casing has a cross-sectional shape with the bottom upwardly archedand the top curved. This form permits the heavier portions of oil beingtreated to sinl to the bottom at the sides of the arched bottom, whilelighter portions are received on top of the lower or more heated oilbody. In other words, the heated surface of the container is ofconveXo-concave formation, by which is meant it has portions inclinedrelative to one another upwardly into the liqni d container. Thisformation assists in maintaining the liquid within the container in arelatively shallow body, which forms substantially a lilm or shallowlayer over the heated surface` whereby the heat effectively penetratethe body of liquid. Moreover, the inclination of portions of the heatedsurface relative to one another, which is meant by the use of theexpression convene-concave in the specification and claims, tends toausc any carbon deposit upon the bottom to gravitate away from the majorportion of the heated bottom toward the sides of the latter, and thisgravitation is assisted by the cyclic circulations of the liquid.

The container may be heated from a combustion chamber 5() arrangedbeneath a horizontally extending partition or balile 5l, whichterminates at 52 approximately on a line with the rear end of thecompartment 46. The combustion chamber is provided with any suitablesource of heat such as the burner 5l', and, preferably, it is mountedfor sliding movement beneath the baiile or partition 5l, so that asillustrated in dotted lines in Figure 4, it may be moved longitudinallyto vary the point at which the products of combustion pass upwardly andreverse their course to travel beneath the bottom of the stillcompartments to the stack This construction causes the flame andproducts of combustion to pass first through the space beneath thesecondary distilling compartment 47, or the last compartment of theseries if more than two are employed, and then to return from the top ofthe baille to reach the outlet stack. Adjustment of the combustionchamber 50 may vary the distance of travel of the products of combustionbeneath the compartments, and also direct the latter against the rearwall of the casing for a purpose which will be later described.

The oil to be treated is supplied to the upper portion of the firstdistilling compartment 46 through a pipe 54, the outlet. end of whichextends through the side wall of the casing 48, and over the relativelyshallow concave pan 55. This pan extends transversely across thedistilling chamber, and at substantially opposite sides of thelongitudinal intermediate portion of the arched bottom has its forwardedge cut away (Figure 4) so that the oil therein will flow over itsforward wall in two separate streams, each of which is substantiallyco-extensive with the cut away portions 55. The trough is providedprimarily for the purpose of directing the oil downwardly only 'atopposite sides of the arched bottom where there are providedlongitudinally extending baffles 5G, the lower edges 57 of which arespaced from the side walls to provide passages through which the oilwill travel downwardly as indicated by the arrows (Figure 4), andupwardly over the heated arched bottom.

Tt will be understood that the oil travels longitudinally of thecontainer, due to the infeed pressure, and also in two substantiallydistinct cyclic streams around the baffles 5G. That is to say, the oilcirculates not only longitudinally of the still, but also upwardly overthe heated arched bottom between the ico means, as described, causes'theheat to increase progressively longitudinally of the still. This methodof circulating the oil prevents the generating of large quantities ofsteam at a time, should any Water be carried into the still with theoil, and the small quantities of steam produced at any given time Willbe discharged Without entraining substantial portions of the oil, if anyat all.

The time required for the oil to pass through the compartment 46 issufcient to insure that all the lighter fractions thereof will bevaporized While the heavier fractions will pass through the openings 49into the second distilling'chamber or compartment 47 Within which, aswill be observed, the baies 56 are arranged to function in the samemanner as in the compartment 46. The bat fle 56 is provided in thesecond distilling chamber or compartment 47 so that the oil enteringthis chamber through the openings 49 is caused to rise to the upperportion of the body of oil and flow over the upper edge of the baille.

The relative heat range of each section or distilling compartment of theapparatus is partially controlled by the length thereof in relation tothe other compartments or dis tilling chambers. For example, With anapparatus of the form particularly illustrated, wherein it is assumed tobe desirable to eniploy temperatures in the compartment 46 ranging from10() to 400 degrees (C), or through a range of 300 degrees While thetemperature in the compartment 47 will vary from 400 to 500 degrees (G),or through a range of 100 degrees ((1.), the compartment 46 is severaltimes as long as the compartment 47.

The number of distilling compartments, and the relative lengths of eachwill, of course, be increased and relatively proportioned` as appearsdesirable.

It Will be understood, of course, that theV vessel 59 has a partition 61and an overflow discharge opening 62, which is arranged to controlautomatically the level of oil Within the still compartments. As will beunderstood, the level of oil Within the still cannot exceed the planeofthe overflow discharge opening 62 Which is arranged to controlautomatically the level of oil Within the still compartments.

This vessel may be constructed to serve also as a heat exchanger as inthe previously described embodiment of the invention.

For this purpose, the Vvessel 59 is divided into several compartments bymeans of the partition 6l and an upper partition 63 forming acylindrical compartment 64. The chamber of the compartment 64communicates with a compartment 64 below the partition 6l through pipes65. The oil for the still is introduced into chamber 64 through pipe 66and vvill iioW upwardly through the pipes 65, which are surrounded bythe heated unvaporized oil from the still; thus the fresh oil supply ispreliminarily heated before it` reaches the chamber 64, and asses therefrom through pipe 54 to the rst compartment of the still.

It will be observed that in the apparatus for carrying out theinvention, the casing 59 is immediatelyadjacent the rear end of the iuebeneath the still, so that the heat from the products of combustionwhich pass up- Wardly at the rear end of the combustion chamber may bedirected against the same to assist the unvaporized oil from the stillin preliminarily heating the fresh oil supply in the heat exchanger. Asin the construction previously described, a conduit or pipe 69 mayconnect the upper end of the chamber 64 with the initial compartment ofthe still to equalize the pressure and permit the gravitational flow ofthe oil through pipe 54 to the compartment 46; and, further, anysediment which is prevented from passing upwardly by screen 67 incompartment 64 A may be drained therefrom by the drain pipe 68.

`The vapors from the still container are conducted through adephlegmator for the purpose of separating therefrom any en trainedliquid. The dephlegmators are in the preferred embodiment positionedWithin 4 the still casing so as. to have maintained therein a highdegree of heat, which will pre vent condensation. of any vapors beforethey pass from the dephlegmator. Each dephlegmator comprises asubstantially cylindrical passage 70, having an inlet opening 71adjacent the rear end of the compartment,

and an outlet 72 extending through the top a,

Wall of the casing 4S, this opening conducting .Y

preferably, inclined to the vertical instead of being arranged in exactvertical planes. This inclination lengthens the tortuous path for thevapors and entrained liquid.

The bailes are arranged in distinct pairs forming downwardly extendingbranches 71, which are narrower or of less area than the upwardly.extending branches 72, the arrangement serving to increase the velocityof the vapors and entrained liquid in their downward movements, andgiving slower upward movements. By positioning the dephlegmator withinthe still compartment, the heat of the still prevents condensation ofvapors before they pass from the dephlegmator, and, moreover, theinclination of the baffles lengthens the path of the vapors within thecasing 70.

Moreover, it will be noted that the branches 71 are at one portionsomewhat constricted and the passage or branch flares or widens in adirection away from the constricted portion at opposite sides thereof.This construction serves to prevent back pressure from aiiecting thetravel of the vapors, and serves, furthermore, to increase the velocityof the downwardly travelling vapors, thereby improving the whippingaction which throws out of the vapors any entrained liquid.

Any liquid separated from the vapors within the dephlegmator of the irstcompartment is carried oii by means of short pipes 73 to a heater 74,which, at one end, has a. branch 75 (Fig 2.) extending through the wallof the casing, and from which the oil may be either returned to thestill compartment 46 for further distillation through a valve-controlledbranch 76, or withdrawn through a valve-controlled pipe 77. Thedephlegmator casing 71 of the final compartment 47 has leading therefromadjacent to each of the upwardly extending bafiies 72', a liquiddischarge pipe 78, each pipe being laterally and downwardly directed(Fig. 3) so that the liquid will be discharged below the level of theoil in the chamber and will, with the oil above and outside the baiiieplates 56, pass downwardly and then upwardly inside the baiiie over thearched heated bottom of the compartment.

It will be understood, of course, that numerous modifications may 'bemade in the structures illustrated and described without departing fromthe invention.

Although the still, as shown, is mounted upon a fixed base, it is ofvery light and compact construction, and hence may be readily applied toa portable or wheeled base, which, of course, is within the scope of theinvention.

The apparatus described progressively increases the heat o-f the liquidas it advances longitudinally of a still container, and at the sametime, causes transverse (i. e., either vertically or horizontally) localcyclic circulations of the advancing liquid, and, preferably, in shallowstreams, whereby it is repeatedly passed over the surface to come incontact with the zones of increasing heat. The local cyclic circulationsmay be in a single stream, or in a subdivided body, as cX- plained,consisting of two streams, each having a plurality of these local cycliccirculations. The convexe-concave formation of the heated surfaceassists materially in providing a body of liquid of little orsubstantial film-like depth, which, therefore, may be effectively actedupon by the heat. Moreover, as will be understood, the inclination ofportions of the surface, in addition to the cyclic streams, assists incausing gravitational movement of the carbon deposited on the heatingsurface relative thereto and away from the or portion of the heatingzone toward the longitudinal center of the container. Such terms as areused in the specification and claims for including conventionalapparatus are used in their broadest sense, and by container, forinstance, is meant any suitable means for retaining the liquid whensubjected to heat and permitting the circulations and travel defined.Obviously, this method may be carried out in various forms of apparatus,and is not limited to the specific apparatus described.

rlhe present application is a continuation in part of my co-pendingapplication, Serial No. 99,311, filed April 2, 1926, Patent No.1,646,448 and a division cf my application, Serial No. 155,208 iiledDecember 16, `1

I claim:

1. In a dephlegmator for removing entrained liquid from hydro-carbonvapors, a casing and a plurality of alternately arranged upwardly anddownwardly extending baiies in said casing forming a tortuous coursehaving successive upwardly and downwardly directing portions, thesuccessive baffles having overlapping outwardly curved portions with thespaces therebetween having constricted portions. i

2. In a dephlegmator for removing entrained liquid from hydrocarbonvapors, a Y,

casing and a plurality of alternately arranged upwardly and downwardlyextending baiiies in said casinor forming a tortuous course havingsuccessive upwardly and downwardly directing portions, the successivebaililes having overlapping portions terminating in oppositely disposedconvexed portions with the spaces therebetween having constrictedportions.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

EDWARD C. DYARMETT.

